I just watched that Spurredontv rant about Sol Campbell and can I just say I think it's a disgrace. That guy in the video is a delusional moron for thinking those things about him and the way spurs fans treated him after he moved is utterly shameful and makes us look really bad.

Dislike a player for leaving us as much as you want but if you defend how we as fans treated him then you're defending homophobia, racism and general bad taste, and just look like a fool.
Get some perspective.

Eh? Doesn't connect. I don't recall him defending homophobia and racism, or even how the extreme fans treated him, in general. Pathetically butt-hurt and verbally abusive, maybe, but none of those terrible things.

I was laughing the whole rant. Was I defending homophobia and racism? :/

Andy, fans(as a collective) have always been bordering(crossing) on the acceptable. Look at the chants you hear from all places. Banter is just a loosely used word for showing that if you're not us, then anything is fair game.

As far as Sol goes, I'm sure he would have got the same sort of s**t if he was black, brown, white, whatever color is applicable. Nothing to do with race, more to do with how he left.

I just think the guy doing the video is so absurdly blinkered and biased he can only look at it in a tribal mentality without looking at it from Sols view as a footballer. We all too often forget the human side.
In the video he says this:
Sol said:
Everything at Arsenal was better at the time - players, management, mentality, facilities.
Move needed to make to improve as player and person.
Best thing for himself.

The guys Retort:
we offered you everything, 100k a week, other clubs also wanted you - but you went to arsenal because you didn't want to leave North London.

My response? It seems perfectly logical when you put it that way.
What Sol said is hard to deny - Arsenal were top 2 team at the time and Spurs had never finished higher than 7th or in the bottom 7 since start of premier league. The utter definition of mid table team. We were poorly run back then.

"We offered you everything - 100k a week"
So what does that show? We offered him loads - yet still he decided to leave because he wanted to achieve something. It wasn't about money.
And who can argue against that? He won 2 league titles, once as the key defender in the only ever unbeaten team. He also won 3 fa cups in that time.
Spurs won nothing, finishing the league 9th, 10th, 14th 9th and 5th while Campbell was there. So can you blame him?

Then the guy in the video patronisingly said its because he didn't want to move out of North London. Again, so what?

Basically i thought the guy said nothing valid or useful, and just went all sweary for viewer hits.

Who doesn't want to achieve things in their career? A footballer has about 15 years to get everything they want from the game.
Campbell had clearly shown that he was a great player, capable of achieving things at the top level level, and Spurs couldn't match that at the time. That isn't Sols fault.

--
The homophobia / racism thing was a side comment on my view generally about the whole Sol Campbell situation, not that video in particular.
Just saying some of the horrid things that guy has had slung at him is so unnecessary and pretty vile stuff.
His brother actually got a year in prison for reacting to some spurs fans who were ripping into him. People take things too far and just because we support a club doesn't mean we should condone horrible actions.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/oct/06/gayrights

Andy, one of the characteristic features of supporting a team IS tribal mentality.

I am a rationalist(just like you), so I get what you're saying. I understand why he moved, but he could have moved to United & saved himself the trouble of what was likely to follow. The thing about idolizing players is people expect them to care for you too, rather naively.

My conclusions.
Do the fans go overboard with the hate? Yes
Will it stop? Probably not
Could he have avoided it? I think so.

I don't even understand rivalry. To give an example, I don't even get the India vs Pakistan Cricket rivalry ( and this was considering I was very close to joining the Millitary back when both countries were at war).

This aspect of football and sport in general, will always baffle me.

Not exactly pertinent to Sol Campbell (I'll readily admit that I have no real interest in following that flame war), but the average football fan down the pub always blasts the manager/president for not offering enough money to sign a target who goes on to sign a contract extention... yet the same fan expects our players to remain loyal on the bench even when a CL club come calling with a much better contract. A football fan always does have it both ways.Very difficult to reason with.

Might not have the numbers to back him up at club level but he is very highly regarded in Germany - considered to be one of their best young forwards. He's likened to Thomas Muller, but with more pace. He only turned 19 earlier this year so he is very very young - but, with a lot of potential.

He's the youngest player to ever play for Stuttgart - and he's also the youngest player to ever score a brace in the Bundesliga. Playing for Germany at youth levels he has a very good scoring record. In 18 appearences for Germany's u17 side he has 16 goals playing as a left winger. For Germany u19 he has 5 goals in 6 appearances - again, playing primarily as a left sided forward.

In the u19 Bundesliga he has figures of 24 goals and 6 assists in 23 games. Remarkable.

For Stuttgart he usually plays as a left winger or an attacking midfielder. At such a young age it is hard to say what is best position could be. Werner has also won the Fritz Walter medal at both u17 and u19 level - other winners of the award are Mario Gotze, Andre Schurrle, Ter Stegen, Lewis Holtby, Manuel Neueur among other notable German players.

I think Timo could be a bit of a coup for us because he has a very high ceiling as a player - but having said that, I don't think he is quite ready to be 2nd choice striker. I think Berahino should still be pursued.

So that's a bit of information on Werner for those who haven't seen/heard of him.

You guys are linked with Timo Werner? The kid is something special. Like FootballDoc said his young and got loads of potential. He really is a lot like Muller, capable of playing behind the striker or out-wide but still capable of scoring goals.. His still growing and his about 6'0 ft and could develop to be great striker with his speed. Landing him now really would be a steal because I don't see him staying at Stuttgart for to long before other Bundesliga teams come calling for his services.

I'm all for this werner deal, I'm a bit cautious over berahino though, he's a bit of an arsehole and has spit his dummy out a few times, and want to be getting rid of those players, not bringing more in

Berahino had 6 good months last season then the inevitable English youngster hype started surrounding him and he got a massive head and tried to force his way out from the team and manager who gave him his chance the first time a decent club registered any interest.

If he was one of our youngsters and behaved like that we'd slate him for it.
To suggest a player whose had one (relatively) decent season in the Premier League is now magically worth 20m is buying into press hype of English players and I just can't see how he justifies to be worth more than Defoe ever cost after that one season, where he demonstrated ability, potential but also unprofessionalism.

I think he can work and be a good signing for us but there's little doubt that if he wasn't English he wouldn't even be on our radar imo.

The main thing is that he has already proved himself in the EPL but still has potential to improve even further. Except for that, players leave left, right, centre, wanting bigger pay packets and some glory along the way. We've had our fair share of those both coming to us and leaving us. It's the way it is. Not many players these days who's biggest dream is to stay a local hero when they've got talent to push on with.

PS. And it goes both ways. The clubs aren't any more faithful towards the players either (like Dawson, Lennon..)

At any point, there are 3 Defenders at the back, while either RB or LB bombs up to play Winger. There is a CDM (Dier yesterday) who's job is to mark the strikers and block channels of passing, and one CM who moves wide to provide cover for the Wing Back who moves forward. (Bentaleb) We're susceptible to a diagonal longball though.

The three attacking players, Eriksen and Dembele were interchangable at CAM and RAM, with Dembele and Chadli also taking on Defensive duties as needed. It wasn't too often that we saw them move into the opponent box. Dembele and Chadli in particular were heavy on the defensive duties in the first half. Both of them were looking to make forward passes.

Result : 2-1 was flattering to the MLS team. They were dominated a lot of the game, and were under a lot of pressure. Some poor finishing from Kane let them off the hook quite a bit. They got through balls into our box too easily though, and the first half saw Dier and Bentaleb literally run around in a brainless manner, completely lost. This is a major worry, as is the passing of Bentaleb and Walker. Both had a match to forget.

Vorm: 6 : Couldn't do much to prevent either goal. But he's no Hugo. He doesn't have the same sweeper keeper instincts and got stuck to the near post quite a bit. MLS tried hitting us at the far post a lot.

Walker : 5: He was good positionally, but his passing was woefully off. He wasn't helped by getting the ball at awful times under pressure. Lost the ball quite a bit in the first 35 minutes. Misplased Cross after cross was his story.

Toby : 6: Wasn't noticeable. Had a rather quiet game. But did manage to put forth a couple of good long balls to unleash Chadli from RCB. Brings an interesting aspect to the game, something last seen during the BAE afro days.

Jan : 5 : Looked disinterested, and made repeated mistakes in the first 20 minutes. Almost cost us 2 more with some shoddy heading under pressure, and was asleep for their second goal, and lost his man by a mile. Wasn't in the trajectory of the ball. Worrying to see him perform that bad.

Davies : 7: Had a lot of intent, moved forward intelligently, and linked up well with Chadli. got a lot of attacks started and forced their RB to stay wide, forcing the tactics to remain wide. Made a terrific run and should have received the ball early, but Dembele didn't spot it right away. Looked the best defender by far in the first half.

Dier: 5.5 : His instinct is that of a CB. Even when both Dier and the Striker were facing our goal, Dier's natural reaction is to stay behind the striker. I'm not convinced he will make a good CDM. He was under ridiculous amounts of pressure due to Bentaleb's disappearing act. But as the game went on, he kept improving and started chipping the ball over players to distribute to the wing backs, which seems to be his role. Got booked and got a yellow.

Bentaleb: 5: He disappeared. Lost possession every time he appeared. The amount of times Dembele and Chadli came back to protect him cost us a lot of speed in attack. Maybe just an off game on foreign soil, but this is worrying for so close to the start of the season. Was promptly replaced along with Dier at half way point and the game instantly grew faster.

Dembele: 8: He created most of the chances we had, and put in a real shift to protect the ball when Walker or Bentaleb misplaced their passes. I genuinely had flashbacks of the "grusome twosome" days, and he even managed a couple of creative forward passes. Gave a lot of hope for the upcoming season. There's life left in this guy. The player of the first half.

Eriksen : 5: Was marked out of the game. Three players converged onto him almost every time and couldn't contribute or figure out a way to shake them.

Chadli : 6.5 : Lost half a point for the penalty conceded in the first half. That was just sheer laziness. But he did put in a good defensive shift and struck a good partnership with Davies to move the attack on the left flank. Should have scored, but looks close to being ready for the season.

Kane : 6 : He had a surprisingly bad game, barring that one moment of pure striker power for his goal. He dallied on the ball too long, and was on his heels a lot for a good 5-6 chances that came his way. He hasn't had the same level of training in pre-season and it shows. Quite wasteful with a few chances, but he'll get there soon enough.

Trippier: 8: Man of the second half. The guy's crossing is lethal, and he has a good understanding of when to get forward. Early crossing is a gift we haven't had for a while now, and he'll be a huge asset in a lot of games, especially against weaker teams, which we couldn't put away before. Wasn't called on to do much defending, so can't judge that.

Rose : 7: Wasn't as involved, but had a good energy about him and put in a last ditch tackle to spare Fazio's blushes. He charged all along the left flank and despite a decent game by Davies, Rose is undoubtedly #1 choice at LB for us through this season.

Wimmer : 7: Looked a lot more interested than Jan, and covered aerial threats well. Some interesting passes as well. I wouldn't be too shocked to see him overtake Jan by the end of this season. While Jan looked like this game was beneath him, Wimmer embraced it and wanted to take the opportunity to show what he's got. Still has a few mistakes to iron out, but a good backup. Felt like Dier's level last season.

Fazio: - Nothing much to do during the time I've seen the second half.

Carroll : 6.5 Brought an urgency to the passing, and I can't seem to stop thinking of how he moves a little like Modric. He tries good and quick ground passes either forward or diagonal. Probably is our second best playmaker. Created a lot of space in the time he was on, but still isn't at top 4-6 level to lead the line.

Alli : 7.5 : Took over the midfield role with a LOT of energy. He moved and weaved in between a lot of players after taking on the role from Dembele and had an understanding of where Rose and Trippier would be at all times. Surprised by his maturity and he caught me off guard. I was sure he'd need a loan, but I'm not so sure right now. He'd probably start Europa and Cup games if he keeps impressing at this rate.

Winks, Onomah... they definitely aren't ready. A loan would be a minimum requirement for both. About wraps up my impressions from the game.

I had to type it in bits due to power failures here. Lol. So I didn't put it all in at once. But Dier was not a good CDM, yeah. But he had major problems due to Bentaleb being completely lost. Didn't help his case any.

Ah sorry most of that hadn't appeared when I posted, appreciate the review by the way!

Yes from what I've heard Trippier and Alli impressed - hopefully Trippier becomes our first choice RB because he has the makings of a brilliant one. Alli excites me - he's the type of player who doesn't have a ceiling; could become world class one day. Hoping he has a break out season the way Kane did - although that would be asking a lot.

Interesting stat about Vertonghen: He's made 5 errors leading to goals in the last two seasons - more than any other player in the Premier League - but hopefully when the season gets underway he adopts a more serious attitude - for now I'll put down his laziness to it being a friendly and he isn't like some of the other players trying to impress Poch for a first team place - of course that isn't a great attitude to have, but we'll see.

Yeah really weak attempt by Onomah - although the build up to that goal was really nice.

Lets hope for further improvement against Real Madrid - winning that would provide the squad a major confidence booster going into the United match. Which, incidentalLY, I will be watching at Old Trafford - my first ever Premier League match in a stadium! :P

Thanks very much for that, Mags! I only got to watch parts of the match but still came away with much of what you've covered here.
Kane was not sharp, so it cracks me up how the Americans claimed he was such a beast and their goalie was fantastic. It's like I've pointed out many times before, when our opposition suddenly has a goalie having their best game of the season; We play the goalie good. (One cracking goal though, very Defoe'ish.)
I won't draw too many conclusions from a single pre-season game, with some players missing too, but I have some concerns. We have limitations creatively, and as we know, Eriksen disappears too often.
Positives:
I hope Dier will be great, wherever he's played. (So "he got booked and got a yellow card"... LOL)
Our full backs have potential to be our greatest weapon.
I do hope it's going to be the year of the Moose!

I'm not writing Dier off, and I genuinely feel he's our third best CB option. He will need time to get used to the cdm position, but it feels like such a waste considering how good a cb he is. Regardless, I am a Dier fan, and would like to see him prosper and will afford him the time to acclimatise to a new position.

The yellow card was meant to be "he got frustrated and got a yellow card". Lol . I'll take one mess up in a post of that length! :P

Eriksen is a worry. Very easy to mark him out. Dembele and Carroll are our only other players capable of dictating the tempo if the game. But buying a cdm and a cm is overkill. Tough call for poch.

A cautionary tale for Manchester City’s stellar signing: from Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Dani Osvaldo to Fernando Torres and Ángel Di María, the Premier League is awash with stories of rich talent unfulfilled